The Association Internationale Africaine (French) was an organization created by King Leopold II of Belgium for supposedly furthering humanitarian projects in the area of Central Africa that was to become the Congo Free State and subsequently today's Democratic Republic of the Congo. The organization was created at the 1876 Brussels Geographic Conference and was originally conceived as a multi-person, scientific, and humanitarian assembly but it quickly became dominated by Leopold and his economic interests in Africa. Leopold morphed the organization's "ideology from 'national philanthropic association' to 'private commercial enterprise.' The second was the change from a 'commercial plan to a political reality: the Congo Free State'(Wesseling 89)" [1]. The Assosiation is well-documented as a front for shaping Leopold's exploitive and oppressive Congo regime. King Leopold II Leopold II, King of the Belgians (Louis Philippe Marie Victor) (April 9, 1835–December 17, 1909), succeeded his father, Leopold I of Belgium, to the Belgian throne in 1865 and remained king until his death. ... Humanitarianism is the view that all people should be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve as human beings, and that advancing the well-being of humanity is a noble goal. ... The Congo Free State was a kingdom privately and controversially owned by King Leopold II of Belgium that included the entire area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and 3rd most populous. ...